After
by hedgeh0g
Summary: Following Will's incarceration, Beverly and Alana take the opportunity to become closer. Multi-chapter fic based on shit my friends wanted me to write. Please bear with me as this is practically my first fic. It'll get better, I promise
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Sorry this chapter is so short, the rest are going to be longer_

Alana looked up as her doorbell rang, confused. No one really came to see her lately, personal or professional. She thought briefly about ignoring it, but decided not to be rude. Walking over, she opened the door to find a cheerfully smiling Beverly.

"Hey, Alana!"

"...Hello, Beverly" Alana replied slowly. The two were on cordial terms, certainly, but they didn't talk all that much, so this was quite unusual.

Beverly continued, "I haven't seen you around in a while and I thought you might be upset still, so I wanted to see if you needed anything. I brought beer."

Alana smiled in spite of herself, "Thanks, Bev, that's very thoughtful, actually." She motioned for Beverly to come in, and closed the door.

"So, are you feeling okay?" Beverly asked quietly.

Alana knew what she was referring to. She breathed deeply. "I-I'm okay. I mean-" she cut off, not sure about how to communicate her feelings over Will's incarceration.

Beverly nodded sympathetically. "I understand. But Will's doing all right, Alana, believe me."

Alana looked up. "Have you seen him?" She herself had been meaning to visit Will, but didn't quite think she had the strength.

"Yes. That's not a problem, right? I mean you guys weren't in a relationship, but I'm not blind"

"Of course!" Alana answered quickly, "That's completely fine!" She didn't want Beverly to feel uncomfortable when she had no reason to. Whatever Alana's feelings were for Will, that was no reason to be jealous.

Beverly looked relieved. "So,..." she said, eager to steer the topic away from Will, "You wanna open that beer now?"

Alana smiled, reaching for a bottle. Beverly noticed her lips were a perfect shade of coral. Shaking off the odd feeling she was having, Beverly grabbed a beer as well.


	2. Chapter 2

They had been sitting in silence for a few minutes, drinking. Alana looked at Beverly, who was already on her second beer. She had never noticed it before, but Beverly was kind of hot. She shook her head. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking. Finishing her beer, she reached for another.

A bark came from the living room and the two turned.

"Hey, Winston!" Beverly grinned, glad to see Will's dog after almost a month. She laughed as he wagged in response.

Alana rubbed Winston's ears and looked over at Beverly. "I'm taking care of most of them until Will—until they can go home. Brian and Jimmy took home two, so I got left with five dogs. They stay in the guest room though." She rolled her eyes.

Beverly looked mildly annoyed. "They never told me they had two of his dogs, and I'm the one who has to work with them all day." Truthfully, Beverly wasn't surprised. When they weren't taunting her, they were usually more interested in talking to each other. She smirked.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Beverly asked, "I have some stuff over at my apartment."

"Bev, you've had too much to drink. You're in no condition to drive."

Beverly sighed. "Probably smart, we'll just stay here."

Alana smiled. "You can stay as long as you want." For the first time in a while, she was feeling completely happy. She wasn't worried about work or her own life or anything; she was just content to be at home, talking to Beverly. "So, Bev, you want to watch something?"

"Sure!" Beverly replied, "Anything's fine!"

Alana turned on her TV and loaded Netflix. "Here, Bev, choose something to watch. I'll go get blankets."

Beverly laughed and grabbed the remote. All the beer was starting to affect her, and she felt great. She flipped through Alana's recommended queue, which was filled with a mix of random genres.

"Really? She asked as Alana came back into the room, "Your reccommended is filled with as many chick flicks as nature documentaries."

Alana looked away. "Whatever, just choose something."

Beverly clicked on a movie, _Edward Scissorhands._ Alana sat down on the couch next to her and tossed a blanket over them both.

"Blankets, we'll need them. It gets pretty cold here at night."


	3. Chapter 3

The flickering TV cast a pale blue light over the room. Beverly turned to see Alana's eyes glistening as if she were about to cry. She noticed Beverly looking and quickly brushed the tears away with her hand, leaving wet trails along her cheeks.

"I- this movie just makes me sad..." Alana was embarrassed that she was crying over something as trivial as a movie.

"Alana, it's fine. Really." Beverly softly said. Hesitantly, she pulled Alana closer under the blankets. Alana offered no resistance, curling up against her.

Beverly looked at the other woman, pressed against her. Her thick brown hair was a mess, curled around her shoulders, but still she looked as flawless as ever.

Beverly ran her finders through Alana's hair, brushing the strands away from her face gently. Alana opened her eyes at the touch.

"Bev?" She was slurring her speech slightly.

Beverly drew back. "I'm sorry-"

"No, it's okay." Alana hugged her and smiled.

Beverly glanced down at Alana's head, now resting on Beverly's own chest. She must be pretty drunk, Beverly thought, she doesn't usually show her emotions so much. Then again, it's not like this was a bad thing. She brushed her fingers over Alana's face, contouring her nose, down to those coral lips. It was still hard to believe they were that shade without makeup. As Beverly pressed Alana closer against her, she barely stirred.

Alana was still awake, however, to feel Beverly's lips briefly press against hers before they both fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: I'm sorry the chapters started off so short, they're gradually getting longer. All reviews are welcome :)_

Both Beverly and Alana woke suddenly at the sound of a phone ringing. Beverly sat up and fished around in her purse, trying to find the buzzing BlackBerry. She pulled it out and answered.

"Hello" she said. God, her head hurt.

Bryan Zeller's voice answered. "Jesus, Katz, you sound terrible."

Beverly sighed. "Whatever. What do you want?"

"The hell are you? It's almost ten and Jack's pretty pissed."

Beverly could hear Jack Crawford yelling in the background. "Why's he so angry, anyway? This is a pretty small investigation and it's not like we've had a lead in weeks." She heard someone grab the phone.

"You there? It's Jimmy!" Jimmy Price was yelling, too loud. Beverly winced.

"Christ, Jimmy, what's going on down there?"

"Aw, Crawford's just mad because he's having trouble getting the media to cooperate, like that's new. Plus, Dr Bloom hasn't been answering office calls for days."

Beverly cursed under her breath. "Lemme take a shower and I'll be right over. Tell Jack Alana will be there soon." She hung up.

"Alana, Jack wants you to go over. He sounds pretty mad."

"Shit." Alana got up, the cringed. "Oh God, my head. Why do I have such a bad hangover?" She looked down at the scattering of beer bottles on the table. "Oh."

Beverly dug a compact mirror out of her purse. "I look like shit." She gingerly touched the smeared mascara around her eyes.

Alana stood up, stretching. "You can use my shower if you want, Bev. It'll save time."

Beverly smiled. "Thanks."

Alana pointed to the bathroom and Beverly went in, closing the door behind her.

Alana sighed. She knew how wasted she had been last night, but she still remembered everything. Did Beverly kiss her because they were both drunk? Was there actually something between them, or was it just impulse? She went over to the kitchen cabinet and grabbed a bottle of asprin. Shanking two pills out of the bottle, she poured a glass of water and took them. Then, she went over to make a pot of coffee.

When Beverly walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel, Alana was sitting at the table, sipping a mug of coffee.

"Beverly," she started, "about what happened last night-"

Beverly turned pink. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what..."

Alana shook her head vehemently to silence Beverly. "Don't apologize." She stood up, grabbing Beverly's wrist and kissing her. Beverly tensed for a moment, then relaxed, leaning into Alana's kiss.


End file.
